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THE POLITICS OF NANNIES

A PLAGUE ON ALL YOUR BIG HOUSES

Downing Street endured impertinent hacks' questions about David Cameron's nanny, who recently obtained British citizenship. The questions arose after James Brokenshire, the immigration minister, appeared to criticise businesses and well-off families who employ cheap foreign labour. Mr Cameron would not be the only Cabinet member to be irked by the questions about domestic arrangements provoked by Mr Brokenshire's speech. Still, No 10 was kind enough to answer the questions, insisting that all was proper and above board, a position we're delighted to report here.

What are the politics of all this? Some people might take exception to the Camerons' decision to employ a nanny who wasn't born in Britain, but they're surely in the minority. For most of the people who follow this tale, the salient fact will simply be this: the PM is the sort of person who employs a nanny, a convenient domestic arrangement beyond the means of many working parents. That can only reinforce the idea that Mr Cameron is indeed one of Mr Brokenshire's "wealthy metropolitan elite".

That's a a label most voters would surely apply to the leaders of all the main parties, incidentally. Disaffection with such elites is a significant force in British politics today, and partly explains Ukip's recent gains. But how should establishment politicians respond to it? Mr Brokenshire's speech and the events that have followed show how just tricky it is to put yourself on the side of the disaffected.